Vintage Market

Last Saturday I went to the Boscombe Vintage Market with two of my friends. Both K and M (aka A Girl in Winter) had been before but I had not. My reason for going was twofold - I am always interested in vintage or antiques fairs, but more importantly M and I wanted to look at it with a view of having a stall in the future. For some time we have been talking about trying to sell our crafts online. We are considering setting up an Etsy or Folksy shop. M knits, crochets, makes cards and does cross stitch; I knit, sew and make beaded jewellery. I was really impressed with the Vintage Market. It has only been in existence for 4 months but I was bowled over by the sheer quality and diversity of the good being sold. It was extremely busy and there was a very warm and friendly atmosphere.

It was heartwarming to experience this as, you see, Boscombe has a reputation for being a tough area of Bournemouth. There have been attempts recently to redevelop and rejuvenate the area. It was hoped that the artificial surf reef would attract more visitors and money has been spent on Boscombe Gardens, refurbishing the pier and building new apartments on the seafront.

After a couple of hours exploring the Market we went to a local restaurant, Bosconova, for some lunch and to discuss what we had seen. After much consideration we have decided to rent a stall and see what happens. Life is too short for regrets and we both feel that we ought to try it once and see what happens. Hopefully we will be successful and sell enough to cover the cost of the stall. If not then we will set up an Etsy shop to sell our craft work. I personally feel that I want to take the chance or I will always regret it and wonder what would have happened. Who knows where it will lead!



The lovely things bought at Boscombe Vintage Market - two Liberty fabric remnants, a couple of vintage brooches, a handmade felt and bead dragonfly brooch, some purse frames and some lovely beads.


I couldn't resist this dragonfly. The designer Meninafeliz had a selection of hand embroidered butterflies, dragonflies and birds for sale as well as some beautiful flowers made from paper.



Another stallholder was selling vintage clothes and jewellery. Again I was drawn to a dragonfly brooch (do you sense a theme emerging here!).



There was someone selling beautiful beaded jewellery. She had large glass dishes full of loose beads on her stall. I was immediately attracted to them, they looked so pretty sitting there. I chatted to the stallholder and she told me that she was taking a bead needle weaving course herself and that she was addicted to beads. I had found a kindred spirit! In fact all of the stallholders were very friendly and only too happy to talk to us about their items and how they were made. The whole day was very inspiring and uplifting. I honestly did not realise that there were so many creative and generous spirited people in my local area. Plus I got to spend some quality time with two wonderful friends. What more could I ask!



Finally inspiration for all you men out there. My OH is constantly losing buttons from his shirts. I have to admit that mending and sewing buttons on are not high up on my list of favourite activities. In desperation last year the poor man asked me to teach him how to sew the buttons on, if I was not willing to do it for him. I happily got my sewing box and spent half an hour teaching him the basics. Last Sunday he asked me for a needle and thread and then proceeded to replace some missing buttons on one of his shirts. I felt a little bit bad for not doing it for him, but also very proud of him too!